Intimidated by this seemingly daunting project? Don’t be. If you have the will and a whole day (or two) to yourself, you can refinish the hardwood floors in the major areas of your home. You don’t necessarily need to sand, but if the floor is damaged enough to warrant buffing, check out your local hardware store and rent the equipment for anywhere from 4-48 hours. Here’s how to refinish your hardwood floors.
Depending on where you live, national averages can seem like a steal. Rene Artale’s four-bedroom house near Newcastle, in Westchester County, N.Y., suffered some damage during a storm last winter. A tree fell in the yard, damaging her fence, arbor and retaining wall. And heavy snow caused her roof to leak. The repair bills just kept piling up. Removing the tree, $3,800. Repairing the wall, $4,000. Fixing the roof, $3,800. Fixing the picket fence, $2,800. “It’s obscene,” Ms. Artale, 47, said.
If you have shallow scratches or nicks, hide them with a stain-filled touch-up marker. Dab on the stain and wipe off the excess with a rag. But beware: Scratches can absorb lots of stain and turn darker than the surrounding finish. So start with a marker that’s lighter than your cabinet finish and then switch to a darker shade if needed. For deeper scratches, use a filler pencil, which fills and colors the scratch. Or, try using a walnut to remove scratches in wood! Everything was simply unforgettable! I responded to an ad for Black Friday Special: name your price for the job with no reasonable offer refused! I emailed the company letting them know I wanted some rotten wood replaced on the window dormer and a ceiling repaired and painted. Mike said he would trust what and wanted and the price of $400.00. The carpenter and the painter arrived early. Mike arrived shortly and went over what needed to be done. I had purchased treated lumber so Mike purchased with receipt the correct wood. The carpenter quickly saw that more rotten wood had to be replaced than anticipated. The carpenter had to do wood cutting to frame and restore the dormer as well as insulate, caulk and prime the untreated wood. Needless to say, the handyman special turned out to be a skillful carpentry job. Mike, nevertheless kept the price at $400.00, which also included the plaster repair for the ceiling as well as painting the entire ceiling. I had been told in the past by two contractors that the ceiling job was complicated. Mike and his painter made the job uncomplicated and the result was simply great!
Intimidated by this seemingly daunting project? Don’t be. If you have the will and a whole day (or two) to yourself, you can refinish the hardwood floors in the major areas of your home. You don’t necessarily need to sand, but if the floor is damaged enough to warrant buffing, check out your local hardware store and rent the equipment for anywhere from 4-48 hours. Here’s how to refinish your hardwood floors. This summer, they decided to paint the frames black, which cost $900. Mr. Sievers, a special-education teacher, and his wife, a doctor, could have done the work themselves, a solution that do-it-yourself enthusiasts would suggest. But the doors face the street, and the couple wanted the end result to look polished. “My dad and my uncle used to always do home repairs and everything used to come out uneven or crooked,” Mr. Sievers said. So he paid a professional. How to DIY it: You should already be emptying the lint trap before every load of laundry. To do a thorough cleaning of the dryer and its vent duct system, unplug the machine (and turn off the gas valve if it has one). Pry off the access panel on the front (try a putty knife covered with duct tape to prevent scratching) and vacuum around the motor and heating element (above). Then carefully disconnect the vent duct tubing from the back of the dryer and use a dryer vent brush (about $10 at home centers; look for one that also cleans refrigerator coils) to pull out any accumulated lint. Aim to do this at least once a year. Many an amateur DIY enthusiast has spotted a job that needs doing and gone out to buy the appropriate tools, only to find that they're way out of their league. Book a handyman using the Handy app or website and you can be sure that they'll arrive with everything they’ll need to get the job done. In addition to your run-of-the-mill screwdrivers and hammers, your handyman specialist will read your job description before they arrive to ensure they come prepared for anything that your specific job may require. Don't worry about whether you’ve got the right tools for the job. Book a handyman through Handy and leave it to the professionals. Avoid companies that require large deposits or payment in advance. If your job requires a lot of materials, and the company is responsible for buying them, it’s reasonable for it to ask you to put up a deposit against these expenses. Otherwise, arrange to pay for all work only when the job is done. This arrangement gives you leverage in making sure the work is done properly, and it’s another reason why a fixed-price arrangement works in your favor: A set fee means a company can’t charge for additional hours if it has to take extra time to correct errors. When vinyl windows and doors don’t operate smoothly, it’s usually because gunk has built up in the channels. But sometimes even clean windows and doors can bind. Try spraying dry PTFE spray lubricant on the contact points and wiping it off with a rag. Don’t use oil lubricants; they can attract dirt, and some can damage the vinyl. Make sure to keep your windows clean all year long with these pro tips.
Many towns have handymen who work part-time, for friends or family or neighbors, who are skilled in a variety of tasks. Sometimes they advertise in newspapers or online. They vary in quality, professionalism, skill level, and price. Contractors often criticize the work of previous contractors, and this practice is not limited to handymen, but to all trades.[13] Handymen have advertised their services through flyers and mailings; in addition, free websites such as Craigslist and SkillSlate help customers and handymen find each other.[14] Maintenance is the best way to avoid the most costly home repairs. A few hours on the ladder cleaning out the gutters could save you thousands in foundation repairs. A quick application of sealant on the driveway could buy a few more years before you have to repave the whole thing. We've assembled a list of the 10 most expensive types of home repairs and the best do-it-yourself maintenance tips to avoid breaking the bank.
In Need of Residential / Commercial Handyman Services? We Have the Solution For You! Our Services include the following: .•All about electricity, installations, maintenance and repairs •General building work and repairs •General handyman work and repairs •Home maintenance and repairs •Installation of bathroom accessories •Sliding glass door installation •Sliding glass door rollers replacement •Sk ... To fix a squeaky floor under carpet, locate the floor joists with a stud finder, then drive in a trim head screw through the carpet, pad and subfloor, and right into the floor joist. Be sure the top inch of the screw doesn’t have threads or the subfloor won’t suck down tight to the joist. We like trim screws because screws with larger heads pull down and pucker the carpet. If that happens, back out the screw and drive it back down. Keep adding screws until the squeak stops. Try these other squeaky floor fixes. Risk: The range hood sucks cooking fumes up and out of the kitchen. As grease splatters, it builds up and clogs the filter in the underside of the hood, keeping the fan from working as it should. This could cause your smoke alarm to go off, attract fruit flies, and leave potentially harmful pollutants from your gas or electric range lingering in the air. And if you have to replace the motor, it will cost around $200. A handyman is not the best option for a large or complicated project that could take a long time to complete and requires the help of multiple workers. You shouldn't turn to a handyman either if you need an emergency service for plumbing, electrical or appliance work, unless the handyman is licensed in that trade. If an unlicensed person does plumbing or electrical work, you have no guarantee that the work has been done to code, which could affect your homeowners insurance policy or any claim related to the work. Use a contractor or specialist for remodeling work, room additions and projects that require heavy-duty equipment or licensed professionals like electricians.

When you book a handyman through the Handy platform, they'll arrive with a wealth of experience and expertise. From home repair tasks to odd jobs and general labor, a professional handyman will have the know-how and the can-do to get your place looking brand new. In addition to bringing their experience, a Handy handyman will bring all the tools required to get the job done. All you need to do is tell us your address and a few details about the job into the booking request form, and we’ll connect you with an experienced handyman who’s done plenty of jobs like yours.

When drafting an agreement, err on the side of being too specific. If a new French door is to be installed and painted, the agreement should stipulate the type of door, where it will be purchased, who will purchase it, whether it will be primed and painted and how many coats, the lockset that will be installed, whether the doorway will be weather-stripped, and that it will properly clear carpet or rugs when opened. Include language that work areas will be left broom clean, and, if possible, make material disposal part of the company’s job.
If you can see light creeping beneath exterior doors, air is also escaping. Grab a few packages of self-adhesive rubber foam weatherstripping and go to town, sealing any and all doors that lead outside. Weatherstripping already installed but you’re still suffering from a high gas bill? It might be time to replace the strips installed by the previous owners. Check out this handy tutorial on installing weatherstripping.

While you’re at it: Any appliance that uses water has a shutoff valve. But when valves go untouched for years, mineral deposits can make them impossible to close. Before that happens, locate the valves for your washer, ice maker, water heater, etc., and turn the handle (clockwise, about a quarter turn) every year or so (more often if your water is very hard), and then turn it back. Here are some ten-minute maintenance tasks you didn’t know you needed.

At age 16, Jerry Torre became the unlikely handyman and close friend to the recluse aunt of Jackie Kennedy Onassis and her daughter who at the time were living in a crumbling East Hampton, N.Y., estate. — Stephanie Nolasco, Fox News, "Jackie Kennedy Onassis was 'horrified' of recluse aunt, cousin living in crumbling Grey Gardens, book claims," 12 Sep. 2018 Pascal is a poacher, a handyman and, for Moll, a madly attractive potential lover. — Justin Chang, latimes.com, "Jessie Buckley flirts with danger in the tense, uneven British thriller 'Beast'," 10 May 2018 Two handymen found the victim and called 911 around 7:15 p.m. the same day. — Heidi Groover, The Seattle Times, "Tacoma couple arrested in connection with death of 67-year-old Renton man," 26 Sep. 2018 The same goes for handymen, painters, anyone in trade. — Carren Jao, latimes.com, "Getting through that condo remodel means taking extra steps," 8 June 2018 The handyman’s hut offers subscribers access to hedge trimmers, chain saws, leaf blowers and other equipment; users pay a flat monthly fee to borrow the tools and return them when they’re done. — Philip Delves Broughton, WSJ, "‘Subscribed’ Review: For a Flat Monthly Fee," 17 July 2018 Each member of the family had specific roles; his were trucker and handyman. — Annie Martin, OrlandoSentinel.com, "UCF's Dale Whittaker says he will rise to challenge of presidency," 31 Mar. 2018 Luthy was getting a few handyman jobs here and there, but wanted to see if Lowe's would hire him. — Megan Friedman, Country Living, "A Lowe's Store in Texas Hired a Disabled Veteran – And His Service Dog," 6 Dec. 2016 This 18-in-one tool allows the handyman on your list to carry his toolbox in his wallet. — Brianna Steinhilber /, NBC News, "18 last-minute Father's Day gifts for every type of dad (and every budget)," 12 June 2018

To illustrate, we divided the handyperson services listed on the table below into three groups, based on their charges for four hours of work. The lowest priced one-third of the companies would charge $239 on average for four hours of work, and they were “recommended” by 96 percent of their customers whom we surveyed (see our ratings tables for handyperson services for ratings). In contrast, the highest priced one-third would charge $445 on average for four hours of work and were “recommended” by only 59 percent of their surveyed customers. Just the opposite of what many consumers would assume.

Simple fixes for the four most common refrigerator problems: an ice-maker breakdown, water leaking onto the floor, a cooling failure and too much noise. Chances are, you can solve the problem yourself, save some money and avoid the expense and inconvenience of a service appointment. The following article will walk you through the simplest solutions to the most common fridge malfunctions. Learn how to repair a refrigerator here.

If you have shallow scratches or nicks, hide them with a stain-filled touch-up marker. Dab on the stain and wipe off the excess with a rag. But beware: Scratches can absorb lots of stain and turn darker than the surrounding finish. So start with a marker that’s lighter than your cabinet finish and then switch to a darker shade if needed. For deeper scratches, use a filler pencil, which fills and colors the scratch. Or, try using a walnut to remove scratches in wood!
Every home improvement job requires a special tool. We'll introduce you to the important construction tools including woodworking tools, hand tools and drywall tools. Now, with all these building materials, you might just need special tool boxes to store them. And, hey, if you feel like a pro, ever think about wearing those tool belts? See All Home Repair & Tools
How to DIY it: Gently tug the loose part of the carpet to find the point where it’s still attached. Snip it off as close to the backing as possible and save it. Use painter’s tape to surround the repair area. Squeeze a heavy bead of carpet seam sealer (about $6 at home centers) into the run. Then fill in the hole with the saved fiber, using a screwdriver to press it into the sealer bit by bit until the area looks like the surrounding carpet (below). To fix a squeaky floor under carpet, locate the floor joists with a stud finder, then drive in a trim head screw through the carpet, pad and subfloor, and right into the floor joist. Be sure the top inch of the screw doesn’t have threads or the subfloor won’t suck down tight to the joist. We like trim screws because screws with larger heads pull down and pucker the carpet. If that happens, back out the screw and drive it back down. Keep adding screws until the squeak stops. Try these other squeaky floor fixes.

How to DIY it: You should already be emptying the lint trap before every load of laundry. To do a thorough cleaning of the dryer and its vent duct system, unplug the machine (and turn off the gas valve if it has one). Pry off the access panel on the front (try a putty knife covered with duct tape to prevent scratching) and vacuum around the motor and heating element (above). Then carefully disconnect the vent duct tubing from the back of the dryer and use a dryer vent brush (about $10 at home centers; look for one that also cleans refrigerator coils) to pull out any accumulated lint. Aim to do this at least once a year.

A variety of problems can befall your home’s doors, especially older doors that may start to sag, stick, develop drafts or experience other issues. Fixing or replacing a door is well within the capabilities of most homeowners, especially if you have a partner to help out. From installing new weather stripping to replacing the lock, you can handle it. Watch this video to see how simple it is to replace an interior door yourself.

Handyman Services completely remodeled my parents house top to bottom and it looks incredible. They completed the job on time and arrived every single day ready to work, unlike some contractors around this city. They painted, installed floating floors, & new lighting throughout the house, just to name a few things. Mike and the team brought a dated South Philly row home to a sleek, modern look which raised the property value immensely. I highly recommend this company for anything you need done around your home. My mother cried with joy once the project was completed. They went through two contractors and it was a total nightmare for them before Handyman Services got involved. Thank you guys for making my parents so happy!!
Perhaps the most perplexing repairs facing a home-owner are broken or damaged things. In today's era of built-in obsolescence for many products, it is often more convenient to replace something rather than attempt to repair it. A repairman is faced with the tasks of accurately identifying the problem, then finding the materials, supplies, tools and skills necessary to sufficiently effect the repair. Some things, such as broken windows, appliances or furniture can be carried to a repair shop, but there are many repairs that can be performed easily enough, such as patching holes in plaster and drywall, cleaning stains, repairing cracked windows and their screens, or replacing a broken electrical switch or outlet. Other repairs may have some urgency, such as a broken water pipes, broken doors, latches or windows, or a leaky roof or water tank, and this factor can certainly justify calling for professional help. A home handyman may become adept at dealing with such immediate repairs, to avoid further damage or loss, until a professional can be summoned.
Generally the job of paid handyman is low status, a semi-skilled labor job. It's a less prestigious occupation than a specialist such as a plumber, electrician, or carpenter. With the emergence of large national chains, an effort is being made to change that perception, by emphasizing professionalism and the fact that a handyman is actually a technician with multiple skills and a wide range of knowledge. At the same time, unpaid homeowners skilled at repairs are valued for saving money. And handyman tools sometimes become useful in different places: for example, when a proper neurological drill was not available, an Australian doctor used a handyman's drill in 2009 to open a hole in the head of a 13-year-old boy to relieve pressure after a brain injury; the boy's life was saved.[11]
For quality, affordable and reliable service provider for all your handyman needs call Kelvin fast and reliable –From Basic home maintenance such as repairs, carpentry and leak repair to specialized services such as plumbing solutions, waterproofing and electrical work and building projects .PLUMBING - Can will take care of your kitchen and bathroom installations, blockages and water leaks quickl ...
Handyman Services completely remodeled my parents house top to bottom and it looks incredible. They completed the job on time and arrived every single day ready to work, unlike some contractors around this city. They painted, installed floating floors, & new lighting throughout the house, just to name a few things. Mike and the team brought a dated South Philly row home to a sleek, modern look which raised the property value immensely. I highly recommend this company for anything you need done around your home. My mother cried with joy once the project was completed. They went through two contractors and it was a total nightmare for them before Handyman Services got involved. Thank you guys for making my parents so happy!!